On Ram Navami in 1859, itinerant mendicant Vishnu Bhatt visited Ayodhya and left a vivid account of the festivites, immortalising a single moment in a long and complex tale. Shockingly, there is no reference to the Babri Masjid in his account. Overleaf, a timeline highlighting the origins and development of the dispute.

Today, Ayodhya is full of Ram temples that claim to be built at the birthplace of Ram. The reason is obvious. Any temple that establishes itself as the birthplace of Ram gets huge donations from devotees, writes filmmaker Anand Patwardhan.